Perfect town. Perfect homes. Perfect families. It’s enough to drive some women mad…
In a tale inspired by real events, pregnant journalist Joan Harken is cautiously excited to follow her fiancé back to his Minnesota hometown. After spending a childhood on the move and chasing the screams and swirls of news-rich city life, she’s eager to settle down. Lilydale’s motto, “Come Home Forever,” couldn’t be more inviting.
And yet, something is off in the picture-perfect village.
The friendliness borders on intrusive. Joan can’t shake the feeling that every move she makes is being tracked. An archaic organization still seems to hold the town in thrall. So does the sinister secret of a little boy who vanished decades ago. And unless Joan is imagining things, a frighteningly familiar figure from her past is on watch in the shadows.
Her fiancé tells her she’s being paranoid. He might be right. Then again, she might have moved to the deadliest small town on earth.
My thoughts on Bloodline…
An Amazon ‘First Read’, Bloodline is one of those books that sounds good on paper (at least to me) but could have gone either way (as First Read’s are often want to do). Thankfully, it went the right way with a clever mix of mystery, suspense and a little bit of light horror (think Rosemary’s baby, which is obviously an inspiration for this book).
It starts simply enough. A young woman, pregnant and disillusioned with her life in Chicago, takes her fiancé up on his offer to move to his hometown, a place that seems picture perfect – at least on the surface. After being welcomed with open arms and given a house and a job, Joan knows she should feel grateful. She knows she should feel loved. Something, though, isn’t right. She just isn’t sure what.
As the weeks go on, and her baby grows inside her, Joan starts to uncover the towns dark secrets – as well as those of her fiancé’s family. And she starts to feel afraid. The question is, is it too late to find a way out or is she trapped in this picture perfect town forever?
The answer comes slowly, something I appreciated. I enjoyed how the story unfolded, how I got to spend time working out who was who and who could be trusted (or not). I enjoyed getting to know Joan, a woman with an inner strength I admired. And I enjoyed Jess Lourey’s writing. It is simple and clean and lovely to read. Which is why I would recommend it to anyone who asks.
Enjoy!
Emma
One Readers Thoughts 
[…] third choice was an Amazon First Book and chosen purely on the description. Glad I did though. Bloodline by Jess Lourey is a mix of suspense, thriller, and horror (think Rosemary’s […]
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